Moxie Flix: The Iron Giant (1999)
A young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy. (PG, 85 min.)
Showtimes
Saturday, July 12, 2025
12:00 PM
These FREE screenings are part of MOXIE FLIX, a monthly series focusing on essential films for kids to see before they turn 13. This series was made possible by a grant from the Missouri Arts Council and the Springfield Regional Arts Council.
A thorough, spoiler-filled Parent’s Guide can be found here.
Imagine you confront your enemy--a giant, scary robot from outer space--and he becomes your best pal. A young boy befriends a monster in the heartwarming animated feature The Iron Giant.October, 1957. Nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal) lives in Rockwell, Maine, a seemingly idyllic town. Hearing stories of a UFO that crashed into the sea, Hogarth, always on the lookout for mutant aliens, finds a huge, metal-eating robot (Vin Diesel) with an insatiable curiosity and equally insatiable appetite. But the extraterrestrial's presence unleashes a wave of Cold War paranoia that threatens to engulf Rockwell unless Hogarth and his 50-foot friend can stop it.Acclaimed animation director and writer Brad Bird brings his creative talents to the big screen in this unique tale of two heroes. In times like these, you really find out what your friends are made of ... sometimes it's metal, if your best buddy's The Iron Giant. [Warner Brothers]
Starring: Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Aniston
Director: Brad Bird
Genre: Family, Fantasy, Animation, Adventure
"A lovely and touching daydream."
— Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"Tender, moving and exciting for kids (and their secretly tearful parents)."
— Kate Muir, The Times (UK)
"Brad Bird fills the CinemaScope screen with wit and beauty in this modern fairy tale."
— Michael Sragow, The New Yorker
"The Iron Giant is funny, warm, muscular and full of nuances that you can take home with you and talk about."
— Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle
"Remarkably unassuming, genuinely playful, and superbly executed, The Iron Giant towers over the cartoon landscape."
— J. Hoberman, Village Voice
"One of those rare films that will hold the attention of children in the 6 to 12 age range without insulting the intelligence of the adults who accompany them."
— Doug Saunders, Globe and Mail
"Imagine E.T. as a towering metal man, and you have some of the appeal of The Iron Giant, an enchanting animated feature about a boy who makes friends with a robot from outer space."
— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Lest all of this sound gravely symbolic, be assured that the film is, before anything else, deliciously funny and deeply affecting. And beautiful, oh so beautiful, as a work of coherent art."
— Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
"The Iron Giant captures and crystallizes its source material's anxious, humane spirit. It might be the most empathetic and exhilarating mainstream American animated feature ever made."
— Adam Nayman, The Ringer
"And if its top-notch story weren't enough, The Iron Giant also boasts some spectacular animation, a combination of classic two-dimensional processes and CGI for the giant himself that's outright spellbinding."
— Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
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